Search Sign Language Dictionary

Browse Signs by...

An ASL Dictionary

Signing Savvy is a sign language dictionary containing several thousand high resolution videos of American Sign Language (ASL) signs, fingerspelled words, and other common signs used within the United States and Canada.

And Much More!

Signing Savvy is an ideal resource to use while you learn sign language. It includes the ability to view large sign videos, build your own word lists and share them with others, create virtual flash cards and quizzes, print signs, build sign phrases, ...and more

One of the most common questions I get from people who are first learning sign language is, "How do you remember so many new words? It's overwhelming!"
It is; and unless you plan on incorporating it into your everyday life, it won't stick with you.

Often sign language instructors will divide sign vocabulary up into categories like household items, food, family, colors, shapes etc... Doing this helps you to categorize the words and file them into your memory bank that way. As you are using Signing Savvy to learn, create your own word lists to categorize the signs you are learning or look into the many, many shared word lists that others have already created. This categorization of vocabulary will be very helpful to you in your learning.

Also, start with the words that are a part of your everyday life, the words with which you will have constant interaction. Then using the printing feature from Signing Savvy, print out little cheat sheet photos that you can place around the house on those everyday items. You will be surprised how quickly you will memorize the signs for these words.

Then later, because you have already created the word lists, you will be able to give yourself a quiz online to be able to sharpen those skills even more.

If you have others that live with you, see if they will help you practice both your receptive (you receiving the sign from others) and expressive skills (you signing the words to others). It is this constant interaction that will improve your learning experience.

Learning signing language as a foreign language is a very good option for hearing students. It greatly enhances their understanding of languages. It increases their ability to communicate in a variety of situations when a spoken language is not an option. And American Sign Language is the fourth most used language in the United States. We love the idea of a world where more and more people are able to more effectively communicate with our vibrant Deaf and Hard of Hearing population. That has been a goal of our web site from day one!

Across the United States, many high schools are having to rethink the way they are currently running their foreign language programs. Many states are now requiring students in their 2014 graduating classes to have two years experience in a foreign language and many more are looking at requiring three! This has left school districts scratching their heads on how to meet these new requirements. Many smaller schools have just one foreign language they currently offer (generally Spanish), but are now struggling to figure out how to expand their offerings.

At Signing Savvy, we see this as a perfect opportunity for those who are interested in sign language to go to their school boards and ask for them to consider introducing sign language as a foreign language option to their school's curriculum. The school's administration will have to look into their own state's requirements for foreign languages. Many states do already accept sign language as a foreign language option. The administration will also have to work with the state to establish the credentials of the people who can teach the classes. In many states, teaching of sign language courses at the high school level can be done by a certified interpreter that also has a bachelor's degree or a teaching certificate.

There is no better time than now to get involved in your local school's education. We will do what we can to help you along the way, including continuing to provide a complete sign language resource that can help both students and educators in learning and teaching sign language.

Comments

Hearing Student

AnimosityKateSavvy GuestTuesday, October 25, 2011

ASL is offered as a language in my High School and I love it. I have taken ASL for three years so far. I can sign well and understand others when they sign. I took Spanish for three years in High School, and two years in Middle School and I even went to Spain...but I still struggle to have a conversation in Spanish. I find learning ASL to be really rewarding and I love learning about Deaf Culture. I hope more High Schools adopt ASL into their language programs.

You must be a member or registered guest to add comments. If you already are, please login. If not, become a member now.

ASL at my school

Savvy User LauraSavvy GuestFriday, November 4, 2011

I work at a private Christian School and we have been teaching ASL in the middle school for 3 years. One of our teachers had a deaf sister so he taught it at first. He moved to FL so now I am teaching the class as an elective. It's exciting to see my students progress in their learning. This site is a great help to me, as I am still learning myself.

You must be a member or registered guest to add comments. If you already are, please login. If not, become a member now.

My favorite!

Savvy User EmilySavvy GuestThursday, December 1, 2011

I'm taking ASL for my language... and it's absolutely incredible. I'm hearing impaired, but I've never explored the deaf part of myself. Learning about deaf culture has been so rewarding! And, unlike the semester of Spanish I took, I actually can have a conversation in ASL after only 1 semester! Now, I better stop so I can study for my ASL final exam!

You must be a member or registered guest to add comments. If you already are, please login. If not, become a member now.

You must be a member or registered guest to add comments. If you already are, please login. If not, become a member now.

Challenge: Often times when a Deaf student is at the high school level, they have been using the language for so long that they are very fluent in it and great storytellers using their language, sign language, yet they still struggle with putting that great ability into a written form. This is where this next lesson idea can be a helpful tool.

Activity: Research a topic, present findings in a video, then write a report

Most students have times where they have to do reports, such as a report on a famous person or present an argument/cause. They can do a good job at the research part, and can even tell others about all the information they have gathered and learned about, but converting that into written word is still a struggle. Allowing the students to put their knowledge first into a video format is very beneficial because of this. It allows the students to use sign language that is rich in dramatic expression to convey their thoughts and knowledge without limiting them to the English words that they may struggle with.

Have the students make a video first, then use the video as a guide to translate the ASL presentation into a great written paper. This idea allows for freedom to communicate in a Deaf student's own language, without stifling their creativity. It also allows a very teachable moment for you as the teacher to help translate their signed words into written expression, with the ability to start and stop and revisit if needed. The end product will be an amazing expression of the student's actual knowledge and creativity...and a lot of fun too!

Activity Summary

Grades: 6 - 12

Materials Needed:

Video camera or phone with built-in video camera

Video editing software (iMovie, for example)

Computer (for researching; for making video; for writing paper)

Activity:

Research topic

Create a video to report findings

Use the video as a guide to translate the ASL presentation into a great written paper

Revise paper after receiving feedback from teacher (and parents)

Common Core Standards:
As a reference, you may want to refer to the English Language Arts Standards for Grade 6-8, Grade 9-10, and Grade 11-12, many of which could be intergrated into this assignment.

Home Extention: Fostering communication between school and home

Of course both the video and the paper are excellent tools to send home to help foster communication between school and home. You could even send the video home and have the parent help their child in translating the sign language into written English. That way, both the student and their parent will teach each other and learn a lot along the way.

Comments

Great learning/evaluation tool

What a great idea! This probably would also be useful with some learning disabled hearing students as well.

You must be a member or registered guest to add comments. If you already are, please login. If not, become a member now.

Research Paper

Savvy User AliceSavvy GuestMonday, May 16, 2016

In my opinion, when you are writing a research paper first thing you should do is choose the topic( the good source for it could be chemistry research paper topics) or else when you do not know the topic, you will not know what exactly you want.

You must be a member or registered guest to add comments. If you already are, please login. If not, become a member now.

You must be a member or registered guest to add comments. If you already are, please login. If not, become a member now.

Want to link to Signing Savvy? If you think Signing Savvy is a great resource and want to recommend it to others, we would love for you to add a link to us on your website or blog!

We've created the link to us page to help make it easy for you to add a link on your website to Signing Savvy by just copying and pasting the desired code into your site. We have provided our official description, buttons for general links, plus links to our blog, the sign of the day, and specific signs. Also feel free to use any of these link images in PowerPoint or Keynote presentations or wherever you would like to link to Signing Savvy.